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Social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities: the impact of place of residence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Roy McConkey ,
Marlene Sinclair  and
Dympna Walsh-Gallagher
Roy McConkey
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences
Marlene Sinclair
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, BT37 0QB, Northern, Ireland
Dympna Walsh-Gallagher
Affiliation:
St Angela's College, Sligo, Ireland
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Abstract

Objectives: People with intellectual disabilities are increasingly living in more domestic style accommodation, either in housing provided within a specialised campus setting or in ordinary houses in community settings. The main objective of the study was to determine if the extent of residents' involvement with their families and with the local community varied when they resided in campus settings (n = 55) or community housing (n = 51) and to investigate the main predictors of this involvement.

Method: With the resident's permission, their key-workers – mainly nurses – completed standard questionnaires that covered resident characteristics, contact with families and a range of life experiences.

Results: Although the type of accommodation did have a significant effect on residents' social inclusion in families and communities, the best predictor of this was the individual's level of dependency in personal self-care. Those who were more dependent tended to be more excluded.

Conclusions: Staff working with more dependent residents need to proactively promote their social inclusion although this could be harder to achieve for those living in campus style settings.

Keywords

Social inclusionQuality of lifeIntellectual disabilityResidential services.
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2005 , pp. 10 - 14
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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